Building The Big Bamboo

26th January 2016, 09:50

I could just imagine me with lengths of bamboo and the thing butchers use to slice ham, when my fiancÃ©e comes in and asks what the hell I'm doing. Although I'd have thought if you were using HMS Hood as an example you may have considered the Bismark? I mean what are the chances of a squadron of Sopwith Camels diving in to the arena and shooting the robot? :P

My philosophy follows from Boxing, which I used to do. "Hit and don't be hit". Really Boxing is the same as fencing. It's not about pure power, it's about landing a strike on your opponent then getting the hell out of there so they can't hit you back. So something that's agile, hard to hit, that's what I'd like to build. The benefit of this bamboo structure is that I should be able to pop parts out and replace them relatively quickly. I don't do welding, never have. But I have drilled holes in wood before.

That said, plywood is fairly strong. I might just make a steam engined bamboo robot with a plywood skin. Proper environmentally friendly!